It's Christmas already! |
[29 Oct 2021|11:46pm] |
 It's not even Hallowe'en yet and the Christmas decorations are up in George Square, Glasgow. Perhaps it's the same every year, but it never seems any less ridiculous to me. They might as well just leave them up permanently. ( One moreCollapse )
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Seasonal illuminations |
[23 Nov 2022|11:55pm] |
 An eastward view along Argyle Street, Glasgow, with the entrance to Argyle Street Station on the right-hand side beneath the projecting canopy, on 23rd November, 2022. The shops on the right, of wholly inappropriate style and scale for a Scottish city, were built as part of the work to construct the station below Argyle Street where none had existed previously; it replaced the former Glasgow Cross Station which as located at the eastern end of Argyle Street. The Glasgow Central Railway had closed in 1964 and was reopened as the Argyle Line in 1979. ( Three moreCollapse )
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Seen in Glasgow |
[15 Mar 2015|06:13pm] |
 You'll never guess where I was today! Note the guy on his mobile phone about to stride straight into a lap-post! ( Four moreCollapse )
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A no-man's-land of motorways |
[04 Mar 2004|08:47pm] |
A series of photos I took for my HND Photography college course on the theme of the destruction and desolation brought about by urban motorways. The inner city of Glasgow has been ruined to a particularly appalling extent by these.
 A no-man's-land of motorways at Tradeston, Glasgow, circa March 2004. ( Thirty-eight moreCollapse )
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A dismal October afternoon |
[22 Oct 2011|08:11pm] |
 As the Tickets Scotland shop in Edinburgh didn't have tickets for the forthcoming Die So Fluid gig in Glasgow, I headed through to Weegieland on 22nd October, 2011, to purchase a ticket. Seeing as I'd forked out over £11 for the train-fare, I decided to have a wee stride around the city centre whilst there, and began by wandering up Sauchiehall Street to see if I could find some charidee shops to have a rake around in. I only found one, and it didn't have the items I was looking for: candles; my living-room, for the warming-up of. As ever, I was struck by the ugliness of Glasgow. That's not to say it doesn't have some lovely old buildings. It does: plenty of them. According to the plaque on the wall at its near end, this building in Sauchiehall Street is a 'Glasgow Landmark'. In fact, it is the Grecian Chambers; the work of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, the famous Glasgow architect. In style, it certainly typifies the mid-Victorian Glasgow style of architecture: it couldn't be anywhere else. And right next to it... ( Eleven moreCollapse )
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A classic Glasgow scene |
[08 Jul 2018|06:38pm] |
 The statue of the Duke of Wellington in Royal Exchange Square, Queen Street, Glasgow, on 8th July, 2018. I've photographed this statue on several previous occasions, but on this occasion I was struck by the symmetry produced by the two cones and the pigeon on the horse's tail. ( One moreCollapse )
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The Tolbooth tower |
[11 Jan 2011|07:16pm] |
 The Tolbooth tower at Glasgow Cross - the ancient heart of Glasgow - on the bright and sunny afternoon of 11th January, 2011. The tower dates from 1626 and was originally part of a much larger building, the Tolbooth.
"A tolbooth or town house (Scots: Towebuith) was the main municipal building of a Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of three essential features in a Scottish burgh, along with the mercat cross and the kirk (church).
"Burghs were created in Scotland from the 12th century. They had the right to hold markets and levy customs and tolls, and tolbooths were originally established for collection of these. Royal burghs were governed by an elected council, led by a provost and baillies, who also acted as magistrates with jurisdiction over local crime. The tolbooth developed into a central building providing for all these functions. Most tolbooths had a bell, often mounted on a steeple, and later clocks were added. As well as housing accused criminals awaiting trial, and debtors, tolbooths were also places of public punishment, equipped with a whipping post, stocks or jougs. The tolbooth was occasionally a place of execution, and where victim's heads were displayed. The tolbooth may also have served as the guardhouse of the town guard. Other functions provided in various tolbooths included schoolrooms, weighhouses, storage of equipment and records, and entertainments.
"The first record of a tolbooth is at Berwick upon Tweed in the later 13th century, and the earliest known grant of land for construction of a tolbooth is at Dundee in 1325, with many more grants recorded through the 14th century. The oldest tolbooths which survive intact are those of Musselburgh (1590) and Canongate (1591). The tolbooth of Glasgow (1626) has been described as Scotland's 'most remarkable civic building of the 17th century'. Other Renaissance-style tolbooths were erected at Linlithgow (1668) and Kirkcaldy (1678). By the 18th century, the term 'tolbooth' had become closely associated with prison, and the term 'town house' became more common to denote the municipal buildings. Classical architectural styles were introduced, as at Dundee (1731) and Sanquhar (1739). In the early 19th century, increasing separation of functions led to purpose-built courthouses and prisons, and the replacement of tolbooths and town houses with modern town halls, serving as council chamber and events venue. The prison functions of tolbooths were overseen by prison boards from 1839, but the jail cell in the Falkirk Steeple remained in use until 1984." [From Wikipedia page: Tolbooth]
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A typical Glasgow scene |
[23 Nov 2005|08:45pm] |
 A very typical Glasgow scene: the statue of the Duke of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art in Queen Street on 23rd November, 2005.
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All Under One Banner |
[03 Jun 2017|09:42pm] |
It was lovely and sunny this morning when I hauled myself out of bed after another restless night, and I was up in time to head through to Weegieland for the All Under One Banner march. So I drank my covfefe, tied my boot-laces and grabbed my camera and shades, and off I jolly well headed...
 Walking route: All Under One Banner march, Glasgow, on 3rd June, 2017. Distance: 4.73 miles. ( Thirty moreCollapse )
I managed to avoid being struck by lightning and frazzled to a smoking crisp, but I got drookit. Soaked through! The march was gigantic, by the way. It may have been the biggest demo I've ever attended. I've read that the procession was three miles long and that people were still leaving Kelvingrove Park when the leading end reached George Square. Certainly, from where I was, it stretched in each direction for as far as I could see. I'm surprised that the largest estimate of attendance was 25,000: I'd have guessed at a very much larger number. The atmosphere was relaxed, happy, and very uplifting and inspiring altogether.
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The LiveJournal Revival community |
[21 Sep 2019|09:50pm] |
 Are you fed-up with sites like Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr? Do you wish your old friends who've migrated to those sites would return to LiveJournal? The the_lj_revival community has been set up with that aim in mind, and you are invited to join it. If you are already on LiveJournal and still have a Facebook profile, and would like to see more people returning to LJ or setting up accounts here, we invite you to post a link to this community on your Facebook Timeline. If you would like to find out who is still using LiveJournal and make contact with those who are already here, you are invited to copy and paste the 'about me' questions on the profile page and post them with your answers to the community.
LiveJournal is already getting busier than it's been for many years. Let's see if we can persuade our old friends to return and bump the activity-level up a bit further!
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Night is Day - A Scottish Superhero Movie |
[18 Oct 2010|09:21am] |
Hey everybody!
We've finished filming our first ever feature, "Night is Day", which is about a superhero, Jason Mackenzie, as he fights to protect a girl, Lena, from an ancient being, The Caillech, before the country is wiped out.
Of course there are people out there who want to stop Jason, leading to lots of fights, explosions and some pretty shots of Scotland!
Here's our first trailer, which went down well at Collectormania in Glasgow this year.
For more info go to www.nightisday.net.
Enjoy!
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